I don't think any patent lawsuit, easy win or not, is going to cost less than $80,000.
For the city, the value of a suit would be compared against the proposed settlement. For the troll, the value of the suit would be compared against the proposed settlement times the number of potential targets. In this case: every city in America.
So the city has no hope that the troll would fold. Indeed we would expect the troll to fight tooth and nail and appeal well past the point where any city would see individual benefit.
This is why Patent Trolling works. You hit small targets for payouts lower than the legal fees of fighting and once that revenue is tapped, maybe you take a few shots at the endzone by suing larger companies.
As with patent trolls targeting mobile app developers, what this underscores, is the need for some joint-defense fund against patent trolls.
But whereas small app developers have little experience working together, fewer resources and place a higher priority on short-term benefit, US cities are quite different. They have experience working together, sharing knowledge and making joint plans. They have large total budgets and secure-enough footing to make plans even if they may not bear fruit for several years. The odds of their coming together to nip this in the bud are far higher than with small app developers or even larger tech companies.
Trolls may have just shot themselves in the foot on this one.
Not to mention that Mayors go on to be US Reps and Senators. It may take a decade, but it sure seems like making politicians lives hard is a sure fire way to end your industry.
Comments
wouldn't that be an easy prior art win?
I don't think any patent lawsuit, easy win or not, is going to cost less than $80,000.
For the city, the value of a suit would be compared against the proposed settlement. For the troll, the value of the suit would be compared against the proposed settlement times the number of potential targets. In this case: every city in America.
So the city has no hope that the troll would fold. Indeed we would expect the troll to fight tooth and nail and appeal well past the point where any city would see individual benefit.
This is why Patent Trolling works. You hit small targets for payouts lower than the legal fees of fighting and once that revenue is tapped, maybe you take a few shots at the endzone by suing larger companies.
As with patent trolls targeting mobile app developers, what this underscores, is the need for some joint-defense fund against patent trolls.
But whereas small app developers have little experience working together, fewer resources and place a higher priority on short-term benefit, US cities are quite different. They have experience working together, sharing knowledge and making joint plans. They have large total budgets and secure-enough footing to make plans even if they may not bear fruit for several years. The odds of their coming together to nip this in the bud are far higher than with small app developers or even larger tech companies.
Trolls may have just shot themselves in the foot on this one.
Not to mention that Mayors go on to be US Reps and Senators. It may take a decade, but it sure seems like making politicians lives hard is a sure fire way to end your industry.